北魏 砂岩雕佛首像

carved in the round, the broad face with strong jaw set with heavily lidded downcast eyes and of a straight nose, above well-defined lips drawn in an enigmatic smile and framed by large ears with pendulous lobes, the hair pulled back from the forehead into large coils that cover the ushnisha, the hair and facial features highlighted with pigment, stand (2)

藤井善助（1873-1943）收藏
有鄰館，京都，至1980年代
良盛堂收藏

《雕塑別藏》，國立故宮博物院，台北，1997年，編號9

The head is in good overall condition for pieces of this type. There are chips along the edges of the ears with larger chips on the lobes and the top of the right eat. The gesso coating on the surface on the stone is distressed, and the pigments are worn. The back of the head has slight depressions, and the carving there possibly touched up.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

With its perfectly even and idealised features, this head is a fine example of the mature style of the Northern Wei dynasty. The symmetrical and restrained features, with long and straight half-opened eyes and small pursed mouth in a faint beatific smile, incarnating the bliss of enlightenment, all within a squarish face, create a pleasing contrast with the highly stylised swirls of his hair. The interconnecting lines of the top bun have been carved to depict the gankyil, or ‘wheel of joy’, a symbol and ritual tool used in Tibetan Buddhism, while the combed hair is rendered in the form of the taiji symbol, which represents perfect balance when two contrary forces interrelate with one another.

The exquisite manner of carving and large size are particularly notable, and in style it possesses similarities with the figures from the caves at Longmen. These caves contain some of the finest specimens of Northern Wei sculpture; for example, see a standing Buddha, with hair similarly carved, flanked by two bodhisattvas, on the south wall of the Binyang Caves at Longmen, illustrated in Osvald Siren, Chinese Sculpture, vol. II, New York, 1970, pl. 91. The earliest grottos at Longmen were made by imperial command after the Northern Wei capital moved from Pingcheng (present day Datong) to Luoyang (Henan province) in 494. Upon viewing the grottoes in Yungang, Shanxi province, the Xiaowen emperor commissioned a similar structure to be erected in his new capital.

Compare a stele with the figure of the Buddha rendered with similar facial features, included in the exhibition The Splendour of Buddhist Statuaries. Buddhist Stone Carvings in the Northern Dynasties, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1997, cat. no. 6, catalogued as carved in the Longmen style; and another flanked by two bodhisattvas, the coiffure similarly detailed as the present figure, in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington DC, illustrated in Hai-wai yi-chen / Chinese Art in Overseas Collections. Buddhist Sculpture, Taipei, 1986, pl. 19, together with a more simply rendered Buddha head, in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, pl.18.

Buddhist sculpture of the Northern Wei period can be divided into two major periods: the first period immediately following the persecution of Buddhism from 446 to 452 until 494; and the second from 494 after the establishment of Luoyang as the new capital until the end of the Northern Wei period. The style of the first period amalgamated various foreign influences, including the Buddhist art of India, and was characterised by boxy figures with heavy stylization as seen in the Yungang caves. The second phase combined elements of this earlier style with Chinese elements, such as fuller features and clothing the Buddha in robes worn by Chinese scholars, which reflects the adoption of Chinese language, costume and political and cultural institutions by the Xiaowen emperor. By the end of the Wei dynasty an estimated 1367 Buddhist temples are said to have existed in and around Luoyang alone, each of which were lavishly decorated much like palace halls, and the aristocracy and rich merchants vied with each other in making generous pious donations to Buddhist institutions.